Refrigerator



Jun@ E3, E933 c. E. EQNHNE 1,914,349 KK 'REFR'IGERATOR Filed Oct. 24, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f N l l WITNEs'sEs JNVENTOR.- l'

l BY

Patented June 13, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES E. BONINE, OF MELROSE PARK., PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T JAMES H. BELL, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA REFBIGERATOR Application led ctober 24, 1929. Serial No. 42,206.

This invention relates to refrigerators,

i more particularly to refrigerators designed whereby the subllmated gas, after prescribed circulation and recirculation around andv through the chamber set apart for accommodation of the articles undergoing refrigeration, is caused to pass through pervious material constituting the walls ofthe refrigerator before being permitted toescape into the atmosphere; all with a View toward securing the highest eciency in the operation of the refrigerator, and the most economic use of the refrigerant.V

.Other objects and attendant advantages will be manifest from the detailed description following considered in connection with the attached drawings, wherein Fig. I is a plan view of a solid carbon dioxide refrigerator conveniently embodying my invention.

Fig. II is a longitudinal sectional View of the structure taken as indicated by the arrows II-II in Fig. I; and,

Fig. III is a transverse section taken as indicated by the arrows III-III in Figs. I- and II.

As herein delineated, my improved refrigerator comprises a casing 5 in the form of a rectangular box with relatively thick' pervious e'id walls 6, side walls 7, top 8, and bottom 9, which are preferably made from suitably compressed fibrous thermo-insulation like Kapok, although ground cork may be used if desired. This casing 5 I sheath completelyin a jacket 10 of sheet metal which is gas-tight in all its joints but provided near the tops of the opposite side walls 7 with apertures 10a, for a purpose later on explained. Within the hollow of the casing 5, Iplace an insert 11 of sheet metal that affords a main or refrigerating chamber 12 and a relatively' smaller chamber or compartment 13, the latter being offset from one end of said refrigerating chamber and adapted to accommodate a charge of solid carbon dioxide B in block form. From Fig. II it will be noted that the chamber 12 and compartment 13 are individually accessible through openings 14, 15 in the top of the structure protected respectively by suitable tight fitting covers 16,- 17.- Like the casing 5 the covers 16, 17 are of fibrous insulation or cork sheathed within metallic acketing.` As shown, the end walls 18, 19 and the bottom 20 of the insert -11 are made hollow with provision of continuously communicating passages 21, 22 and 23 for circulation of carbon dioxide gas, as hereinafter disclosed. Referring to Fig. II it will be observed that the 4 compartment 13 is only about half as deep vertically as the refrigerating chamber 12 and, furthermore, that it communicates through a series of horizontally arranged apertures 24 adjacent its bottom, with the passage 21 in the wall 18. The compartment 13 is also in communication with the refrigerating chamber 12 by way of apertures 25 in the double thickness wall 18 of the insert 11 near the top. The side walls 26 of the unit 11, on ythe other hand, are of single thickness metal and provided near theirbottom with horizontally aligned apertures 27, that lead to narrow vertical clearance spaces 28 between said side` walls and the insulate walls 7 of the casing 5. Also for a purpose to be presently explained,-the inner thickness of the double wall 19 of the insert 11 is provided near the top with a horizontal row of perforations 29 by which communication is established between the passage 23 and the refrigerating chamber 12.

. In the operation of the refrigerator, th

cold heavier-than-air carbon dioxide gas liberated from the block B passes from the compartment 12 through the apertures 24 intothe passage 21 inthe hollow wall 18 of the insert-11, then downward in said passage and across the passage 22, then upward in the passage 23 and into the refrigerating chamber 12 through the apertures 29. The gas thus entering the chamber 12, in diffusing, passes about the articles under refrigeration in said chamber and, as thermal exchange takes place, returns for re-'cooling to the compartment 13 through the aligned apertures 25 in the double end wall 18 of the insert 11. In this way, a continuous circulation of the gas is maintained by thermal convection exteriorly around and through the chamber 12 to keep the articles undergoing refrigeration at the'desired low temperature for preservation. Concurrently with such circulation however, a certain proportion ,of the gas enters the vertical spacial intervals 28 along the sides 7 of thefinsert 11 at the bottom, by way of the apertures 27,

and diffuses through the interstices or voids' in the insulate walls 6, 7 and 9 of the refrigerator-casing 5. Here again it will b e apparent. that downward convection of the cold carbon dioxide gas takes place with attendant upward displacement of the air initially entrained in the pervious casing walls, which air finds its way out of the openings 10a in the sheathing 10 and is eventually supplanted entirely by the gas after operation of the refrigerator for a short time. By passage of the carbon dioxide as through the insulate walls 6, 7 and 9, of t e casing 5 in, the manner explained, and as a consequence of its poor thermal conductivity, obviousl I obtain a very much greaterinsulating e ect than with air entrained in the insulation forming said walls, as would ordinarily be the case, with a corresponding gain in the efficiency of the refrigerator as a whole.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: ,p

1. In a refrigerator adapted for use of solid carbon dioxide, a casing with pervious 4walls of thermo-insulate material affording a refrigerating chamber and an offset compartment for accommodation of the solid carbon dioxide, means providing opposing lhollow walls and a similar bottom for the chamber whereby circulation of the gas sublimated from the solid carbon dioxide about and through the refrigerating chamber is effected, and provisions affording communication from the bottom of the refrigerating chamber whereby a portion of such circulation is diverted to intervals between opposing solid wallsof said chamber for passage through and about the thermo-insulate material of the casing beforebeing'permitted to escape into the outside atmosphere.

2. In a refrigerator adapted for use of solid carbon dioxide, a casing with pervious walls of thermo-insulate material affording a refrgerating chamber with an offset compartment for accommodiation of the -solid carbon dioxide, said chamber embodying substantially closed-in opposing hollow walls withy a4 connecting hollow bottom and other I opposed solid Walls, one ofthe hollow walls separating the offset compartment from ,the refrigerating chamber, means providing communication from. the offset compartment into the separating hollow wall, means affording communication from the opposing hollow wall into the refrigerating chamber and similarly from said chamber through the separating hollow wall into the offset compartment at a different level from the first mentioned means, whereby a constant circulation of the gas sublimated from the solid carbondioxide takes place first downwardly through one hollow wall, then below, and upwardly through the opposing hollow wall wholly exterior of the refrigerating chamber before diffusion therein and return to the offset compartment for re-cooling, and means for diverting a portion of the circulating gas through the solid walls from a low level of the refrigerating chamber into the pervious casing walls aforesaid.

3. In a refrigerator adapted for use of solid carbon dioxide, a metal-sheathed casing with pervious walls of thermo-insulate material affording a refrigerating chamber with an'offset compartment for accommodation of the solid carbon dioxide, said chamber having opposed hollow walls with a connecting hollow bottom and opposed solid walls, one of the hollow walls partitioning the offset compartment from the refrigerating chamber, aligned apertures providing. communication from a low level of the offset compartment into the partitioning hollow wall, similar orifices affording communication from a high level of the opposed hollow wall into the refrigerating chamber and also from said chamber through the partitioning hollow wall into the offset compartment whereby constant circulation of the gas sublimated Vfrom the solid carbon-dioxide takes place downwardly, then below, and upwardly exterior of the refrigerating chamber before diffusion therein and return to the offset compartment for re-cooling, and other aligned orifices whereby a portlon of the gas in the refrigerating chamber is diverted from a low level through the solid walls for passage upwardly through the thermo-insulate material to effect displacement of entrained air in the voids of said material before escape to the atmosphere by wa)T of similar openings proximate the top of the metal sheathing.

In testimony. whereof I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- Vania, this 19th day of October, 1929. f

CHARLES E. BONINE. 

